2009 Christmas Schedule

BLESSED SACRAMENT PARISH

CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE 2009

Reconciliation Service: Monday, December 21st at 7:00 p.m.
Christmas Eve: Thursday, December 24th

* 2:00 p.m. Children’s Pageant
* 3:30 p.m. Children’s Pageant
* 5:00 p.m. Children’s Pageant
* 6:30 p.m. Family Mass
* 8:00 p.m. Family Mass – Celebration of the Nativity
10:00 p.m. Family Mass
Midnight Traditional Solemn Celebration

* Tickets are required (for crowd control only)

Christmas Day: Friday, December 25th
9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, December 26: 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 27: 8:15 a.m.; 9:30 a.m.; 11:00 a.m. ; 8:00 p.m.

New Year’s Eve: Thursday, December 31: 6:00 p.m. Mass
New Year’s Day: Friday, January 1: 11:00 a.m. Mass

Parking regulations for the City of Ottawa DOES NOT PERMIT parking on both sides of the street any time. Please do not block driveways or fire hydrants.

We're a little behind on the podcasts

Due to some computer troubles we've been having, we're a little behind on the Bible Study podcasts with Father David Bellusci. But today, the new podcasts will be going up. The session from October 27 (Genesis 9-12) has just gone up, and the others will go up later this evening.

Confirmation

Starting this year in our diocese, children in Grade 6 or older, who have not yet been confirmed will receive the sacrament of Confirmation. Children in Grades 3 through 5 who have not yet been confirmed must wait until their Grade 6 year. Please contact Ermine Wright before November 15th if your child is eligible to receive Confirmation this year. 692-7605 or sacraments @live.ca

Bullet holes bring sleepless nights

This article was first published in the BC Catholic newspaper in July, 2009.

After ordination, Vancouver's Father Bellusci jets off to Rwanda to work with the needy

Father David Bellusci, OP, ordained on the sixth of last month in Vancouver, left for Rwanda only days later to work in a Dominican mission. Father Bellusci, who holds a PhD in philosophy and is doing graduate studies in theology at the Dominican University College in Ottawa, is writing two articles about his time there for The B.C. Catholic. This is the first.

I arrived in Kigali International Airport at 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning, remembering my first visit to Rwanda in the summer of 1992. Rwanda was politically very tense in the early '90s. I also remembered hearing the BBC announcement in April 1994, when I was living in Cape Town, that the plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi had exploded as it approached Kigali International Airport.

The explosion left two politically and socially fragile countries without their presidents. In the case of Rwanda, the planned genocide of the country's Tutsi minority immediately followed the assassination of their president. Visiting Rwanda 15 years after the genocide led me to ask many questions about human nature.

Rwandans are wonderfully joyful, religious, and family-oriented people. Their values are superb. On the day I arrived I went to the St. Dominic Centre that is operated by Canadian and Rwandan Dominicans. They had festive activities for orphans and homeless children, including some local Rwandan dances performed by the children, followed by a very wholesome dinner.

The Kigali Orphans Project is supported wholly by the Dominican Missions. At this event I learned my first Kinyarwanda word, urukundo, which means love. What a beautiful word to learn on my first day in Kigali! A few days later I was invited to visit a community of Spanish Sisters running a pre-school in Kigali. As I approached the school, the little children noticed me and slowly approached me. Each one embraced me as though I was their best friend. Before I knew it, at least 50 children were running to me to give me hugs and taking my hand as I walked through the school. Their affection seemed like urukundo.

It was hard to believe these children had come from families who had suffered unimaginable violence and cruelty. Their family members were killed by machetes, hacked to death by axes, or machined-gunned in massacres. Women were raped in front of their families; children were not spared being cut up.

The victims were both Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Hutu extremists had orchestrated the genocide with the help of the youth wing, the Interahamwe. Over three months in 1994, from April to June, about 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.

I could not sleep the night after visiting the memorial museum in Kigali. When I closed my eyes, all I could see were the skulls displayed in the museum, which contained visible bullet holes and machete cracks. Everyday T-shirts, dresses, and pants were displayed; the garments the victims had worn before their death. They were ordinary villagers and city-folk who had been branded Tutsi or Tutsi sympathizers.

The tragedy of this genocide was not just the hundreds of thousands of people slaughtered, but the betrayals that took place: neighbours denouncing neighbours and friends killing friends simply because of their ethnicity. Are people fundamentally evil with a disposition to do good, or are people fundamentally good with a disposition to do evil? Genocide would make us inclined to believe in the former: people are fundamentally evil. However, I believe that people are fundamentally good. God created us good, in His divine image. Original sin has inclined us towards evil. Only God's grace, the grace we receive at baptism, can correct this inclination. Rwandans are predominantly Catholic, so what happened? At a conference in Montreal, I heard a psychologist say. "In cases of extreme anxiety, a person is capable of doing anything."

One of the crucial aspects of genocide is the use of propaganda. Newspapers and radio stations in Rwanda delivered, daily, the danger of the Tutsi threat. Readers and listeners slowly began to believe that Tutsi "cockroaches" would wipe out the Hutu if the latter group did not act swiftly. When there is poverty and scarcity of land. and when the majority of the population lives in critical conditions, an extreme solution appears the best solution. Rwandans were given such powerful and regular doses of anti- Tutsi propaganda that the killing of Tutsis did not seem evil.

The propaganda produced something like a diabolical hypnotic spell, and then a wild frenzy; thousands of good Rwandans were transformed into butchers and murderers, a human kil1ing machine. To act morally we need to have enlightened consciences, but when we act out of anxiety with fear pumped up by propaganda, and when our instinct of self-preservation takes control, our capacity to reason diminishes and anything is possible.

Responsibility weighs heavily on those outside Rwanda, on those who could still reason and remain objective, thinking with lucidity. The role of the international community needs to be questioned in this regard. Why did so many western countries, which had ties with Rwanda before the genocide, fail to intervene? Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian Lieutenant-General who led the UN peace-keeping mission, had asked for assistance, but it had been flatly refused by the UN.

The memorial museum had a torch burning when I visited the site in June. The months of April, May. and June were the three months of genocide, three months the world watched and did nothing. If you wish to assist homeless children, or land cultivation, two projects can be supported: for homeless children there is Kigali Orphans, Martin Lavoie, OP, Missions dominicaines, 2715 chemin de la Cite Sainte Catherine, Montreal, Que., H3T IB6; for land cultivation there is Kigali Land Cultivation, Umushumba Mwiza, Account: 0010006-02-31, Banque Commerciale du Rwanda.

Father Bellusci has published a novel based on his previous experience in Zimbabwe: Beating the Drums (Mambo Press).

Why do you give?

Why do you give?

Do you give in hope of getting in return? While there is certainly nothing wrong with that, it is not the kind of exceptional giving we are called to. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew), "If you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the heathens do the same?"

Do you give in hope of gaining recognition for your gift? There's nothing wrong with claiming a tax deduction on a financial contribution, but if the point of a gift is a tax write-off than you have given nothing. If you are donating your efforts to a cause because you wish to be seen donating your efforts to a cause, then you are also giving nothing. In the very same Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:

"But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward."

No, there is really only one reason to give, and it is the same reason Jesus had for giving us back our lives on the cross: love. A gift is like a sacrifice in that it is a selfless donation of yourself without thought for what comes back to you, even if giving sometimes repays like no other dividend.

As the Pope wrote in his first encyclical:

Love embraces the whole of existence in each of its dimensions, including the dimension of time. It could hardly be otherwise, since its promise looks towards its definitive goal: love looks to the eternal. Love is indeed “ecstasy”, not in the sense of a moment of intoxication, but rather as a journey, an ongoing exodus out of the closed inward-looking self towards its liberation through self-giving, and thus towards authentic self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God: “Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Lk 17:33), as Jesus says throughout the Gospels (cf. Mt 10:39; 16:25; Mk 8:35; Lk 9:24; Jn 12:25)

So give – give from the place inside you that is love. Give until it hurts. Nobody ever failed to get into Heaven due to excessive generosity.

Father David's latest podcast

on Genesis 2, can be found here!

New bible study podcast

From the September 30 session on Genesis Chapter 1, by Fr. David Berlucci, O.P.

The overhead from the Commissioning Mass

a couple of volunteers wanted to see the quote from the overhead. Here it is.

 My Lord, God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
     and the fact that I think that I am following your will
     does not mean that I am actually doing so.
 
But, I believe that the desire to please you
      does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart for that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
      though I may know nothing about it.
 
Therefore will I trust you always,
      though I may seem to be lost in the shadow of death
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
      and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Thomas Merton

Check out the new fall bible study!

The bible study page has been updated to cover the new fall session. Brother David will be exploring the Book of Genesis, and the bible study page includes a full schedule of which chapters will be covered, and when.

Coming soon: look for podcast recordings of each week's session!

Update: the podcasts are here. If you missed bible study, catch up by listening in.

Maranatha

“On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. ‘If you consider me a believer in the Lord,’ she said, ‘come and stay at my house.’ And she persuaded us” Acts 16:13-15

I wrote a blog a few months ago about King Solomon’s prayer (found in Proverbs) to be granted a listening heart. I’ve been thinking about this petition lately as I’ve thought about a situation that has surprised me with the number of twists and turns it has presented me.

To make a long story short, I’ve found myself assigned to an unexpected (and very interesting) project, I need people with very specific and specialized skills around me to get the project done, and getting the right people has turned into a bit of a roller coaster ride. Consequently, I’ve been praying for a listening heart to try to figure out what I am supposed to do.

Then, this past Sunday, after Fr. Joe’s sermon on jealousy and invitation to tomorrow’s address by Kim Phuc at 7 O’Clock at the Metropolitan Bible Church (2176 Prince of Wales Drive) I went to the foyer of the church to find the details on this address and, to my great surprise, found something of a guide on my quest to be granted a listening heart.

Someone left a one-page (double sided) handout on Christian meditation that sums up the teaching of John Main. Actually, there was a stack of these handouts and I assume they will be available again next Sunday. I urge you to pick up a copy.

Basically, it is a guide on how to meditate. It explains that meditation is a “pilgrimage to your own centre, to your own heart”. The summary also explained that “our aim in Christian prayer is to allow God’s mysterious and silent presence within us to become the reality which gives meaning, shape and purpose to everything we do, to everything we are.”

Without transcribing the summary, it suggests setting aside 20 to 30 minutes, either at the beginning or end of each day (or both) to go sit in a quiet place. I know, for those of us with kids, this may seem like a near impossibility but, when there is a will, there is a way!

Then it explains that quietly, in our mind’s voice, we are to repeat the word “Maranatha” in four, equally stressed syllables like so: “MA – RA – NA – THA”.

Maranatha is a word in the Aramaic language, the language Jesus Christ spoke, that is said to mean “Come, O Lord”, but apparently – my only exposure to this language is through the Bible and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ – if broken in two (Maran atha) it can also mean “Our Lord has come”.

I tried it once this week, and I must say that the warning in the handout that random thoughts are likely to drift into our minds is certainly true. The suggestion to bat these ideas away (in order to make room to simply be in God’s presence) is to repeat “MA – RA – NA – THA” and I enjoyed varying degrees of success.

This is, however, a discipline I hope to develop further because the end goal promises to be so rewarding.

I find it sad that in popular culture people of the Christian faith are either portrayed as unskeptical dullards or outlandishly stern defenders of seemingly nonsensical dogma and that this popular view seems to have gained traction in cradle of Christendom.

I don’t kid myself. If our current Pope’s life quest is to hope to gain a glimpse of God, I am far from being anywhere near as righteous as him. But I have faith in the Pope’s conviction that God is an omnipresent, loving, and benevolent creator who – while I don’t always understand why I am put to the test or through some tough challenges – does everything for my own good.

A final observation I’d like to share is how my spouse gave me a book by French author Marc Levy a few years ago for my birthday titled Sept jours pour une éternité... (Seven Days for an Eternity) and in it is a depiction of God that made me think that if this were a reasonably valid and accurate portrait of our Creator, then I am glad to knock myself out to try to get to know Him.

Perseverance

“But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance” Luke 8:15

Perseverance. If there is only one lesson I hope and pray my sons learn fully through my words and deeds as their father it is to persevere in the pursuit of a worthy goal. I fly 22,000 kms round trip to Buenos Aires every over other month to give them the greatest gift a parent is able to offer their child: their undivided attention and full presence.

On my latest trip in August, my eldest son (nearly 8 years old) asked what the difference is between God and Jesus. Children have this arresting way of snapping out of their immediate concerns to drop a major question on adults in the most innocent, matter-of-fact kind of way that is one reason why they are such a blessing to us.

I hope I performed well (ie. gave a valid and accurate answer) in replying to his question. I said that I think that there isn’t a difference between God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. I said that they are actually the one and the same God and are sometimes called in their unison the Holy Trinity. This, unsurprisingly, turned out to be pretty abstract stuff for a nearly 8 year old. I told him that even “old” people like me had a hard time grasping this idea and that some Muslim friends of mine at times follow up on this question and I do my best to give my understanding of it.

The Holy Trinity, I told my eldest son (and I think my youngest son who is 4-1/2 might have been paying attention for some of this conversation) was that God is everywhere and eternal and all powerful. Because that’s the way God is and we happen to be just where we are when we are and have little control over anything our experience of God is a bit like this: I told him to imagine being a fish at the bottom of a pond watching as a boy throws a flat rock in a way that makes it skip on the surface of the water a few times.

I asked him if he understood and he said yes but I sense we might be revisiting this conversation on my Thanksgiving trip or subsequent ones. My answer to Olivier’s pop quiz really got the wheels turning inside my head, thinking about Plato’s cave and Descartes’ “cogito ergo sum” (I think therefore I am) and all that abstract stuff.

On page 22 of “God and the World” by Peter Seewald, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) replied in the following way to the German journalist’s question “You once said: If a person believes only what he can see with his own eyes, then really he is blind’.”

The man who is now Pope answered: “Because in that case he is limiting his horizon in such a fashion that the essential things escape him. He cannot after all see his own understanding. Precisely those things that are of real moment are what he does not see with the mere physical eye, and to that extent he cannot properly see if he cannot see beyond his immediate sensory perceptions.”

The author of the Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, put these words in the mouth of the red fox in that famous children’s book: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Problem Solving

"The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight" Proverbs 11:1

We have all, at some point in either our personal or work lives, faced a tough decision forced on us by circumstances. I see these moments as God presenting us with a choice between complacently going along with the ways of this world or taking a stand in spite of the consequences.

Discerning what is right from wrong is relatively easy if a person’s values and ethics are firmly rooted in faith in our Creator, we just have to pray and listen to our hearts. But in a world that presents with varying shades of grey more than black-and-white situations, knowing how best to navigate the ethical minefield is a whole other matter.

In German journalist Peter Seewald’s book, “God and the World”, the Cardinal who would become our current Pope had this guidance to offer on the topic of problem solving (pages 20-21 of the Prologue):

“How could I not have problems? In the first place, I always try to bring my problems into my prayer and to find for myself there a firm interior foothold. And then, I try to do something challenging, really give myself entirely to some task that is demanding and at the same time gives me satisfaction. Finally, through meeting with friends I can to some extent distance myself from everything else. These three elements are important.”

“The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice” Proverbs 12:15

How does God guide us?

As usual, I found Fr. Joe’s homily on Sunday to be food for thought, or rather Archbishop Prendergast’s advice to wait and guidance would come.

So how does God guide us? When in doubt, there is a checklist of sorts, from what I learned at a parish I attended before joining Blessed Sacrament.

Firstly, rely on commanding Scripture for guidance.

Then, rely on God’s compelling Spirit. Our Creator has the power to change our will (if we commit our works to God rather than to ourselves, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3) and ask yourself whether you are at peace with the decision you’ve made.

Thirdly, among the many blessings we have are all those brains between our ears, so we are expected to use our common sense. “Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.” 2 Timothy 2:7

Fourthly, we can pray for the counsel of the saints. “The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice” Proverbs 12:15.

And finally, God does give us circumstantial signs. In fact, I was just speaking with my spouse about this the other day and we were in agreement that at times it can be quite unsettling to witness how we are gently funneled into a course of action that did not seem obvious at the outset. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28 ‘More Than Conquerors’

One good habit

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3

I find the books of Proverbs and Psalms to be a great source of solace when I am going through turmoil and transition and am in need of resetting my “compass” to “true north”.

Last month, my spouse gave me “God and the World” (written by Peter Seewald in 2000 based on a series of interviews with Joseph Ratzinger just a few years before he became Pope Benedict XVI) and I started reading in the past week. This 460-page book promises to be quite insightful.

On page 19, the then Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, answers the German journalist’s questions on his daily routine:

“Before I get up, I first say a short prayer,” the Cardinal tells Seewald. “The day looks different if you don’t just stumble straight into it.”

In the past few years I have gotten into the habit of saying a short prayer before getting out of bed and, most days, reading a bit of the Bible after breakfast or as soon as I get to the office, and consequently I am in wholehearted agreement with his assessment.

The current Pope goes on to tell his compatriot that after his breakfast he attends Mass and the breviary (http://www.breviary.net/breviary/brevintro.htm) which lay the foundation for his day.

His fixed prayer times are at noon, when he prays the Angelus (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01486b.htm) , followed by Vespers (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15381a.htm) in the afternoon, and the Compline (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04187a.htm) in the evening. He says that “whenever I feel I need help, I can fit in a quick prayer”.

That’s a lot of praying, and I admit I do not pray that frequently, but, as Romans 12 implores us, I do pray as often as I can and on a multitude of motivations (gratitude, guidance, help, etc.)

Patience

Sometimes, when things do not happen within my preferred timelines, I feel disappointed or frustrated.

It’s at times like these that I find myself reminded to go back to the premise that life is not chance, but rather a series of events that put our faith to the test so that we can grow our five senses (smell, touch, sight, listening, taste) to develop our spiritual sense.
A Time for Everything
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I have often found that, although it’s sometimes difficult to accept that things happen (or not right away) for a reason, if I can bring myself to trust that there is a good reason to patiently wait for the outcome I’ve prayed for, it ends up sometimes surprising me and certainly exceeding my hopes.

Sympathy

Since early July I have been blogging about virtues.

Prudence, Justice, Restraint, and Courage. These are the four Cardinal virtues, the virtues upon which our actions, thoughts, and intentions hinge. Faith, Hope, and Love. These are the three Theological virtues, or the guiding principles by which we set the course of our lives.

Some readers have written to say they have enjoyed reading this series of blogs.

If there is interest in a further exploration of additional virtues, either in a continuous series or intermittently, please let me know.

For now, I thought I would explore another virtue: sympathy.

The dictionary defines sympathy as “the fact or power of sharing the feelings of another, especially in sorrow or trouble; fellow feeling, compassion, or commiseration”.

“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” 1 Peter 3:8-9

As I’ve noticed so many times throughout Scripture, in this citation we are given a guiding principle which is immediately followed by a real-world challenge: be compassionate … even to those who are not compassionate to you.

It’s little surprise that sympathy is a synonym of empathy, which the dictionary defines as “the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another”.

So how can we be more empathetic? How can we, as Fr. Joe implores us at the end of each Mass, have a “good” week by loving and respecting one another?

One way to do that, I think, is to be better listeners – myself included.

Some people call this virtue a habit, and they call it active listening.

I came across an interesting website (http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/ActiveListening.htm ) and I’d like to share some of its observations on active listening:

“Depending on the study being quoted, we remember a dismal 25-50% of what we hear. That means that when you talk to your boss, colleagues, customers or spouse for 10 minutes, they only really hear 2½-5 minutes of the conversation.

There are five key elements of active listening. They all help you ensure that you hear the other person, and that the other person knows you are hearing what they are saying.

1. Pay attention.
Give the speaker your undivided attention and acknowledge the message.
Recognize that what is not said also speaks loudly.
Look at the speaker directly.
Put aside distracting thoughts.
Don’t mentally prepare a rebuttal!
Avoid being distracted by environmental factors.
“Listen” to the speaker’s body language.
Refrain from side conversations when listening in a group setting.

2. Show that you are listening.
Use your own body language and gestures to convey your attention.
Nod occasionally.
Smile and use other facial expressions.
Note your posture and make sure it is open and inviting.
Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments like yes, and uh huh.

3. Provide feedback.
Our personal filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear.
As a listener, your role is to understand what is being said.
This may require you to reflect what is being said and ask questions.
Reflect what has been said by paraphrasing. “What I’m hearing is…” and “Sounds like you are saying…” are great ways to reflect back.
Ask questions to clarify certain points. “What do you mean when you say…” “Is this what you mean?”
Summarize the speaker’s comments periodically.

4. Defer judgment.
Interrupting is a waste of time.
It frustrates the speaker and limits full understanding of the message.
Allow the speaker to finish.
Don’t interrupt with counter-arguments.

5. Respond Appropriately.
Active listening is a model for respect and understanding.
You are gaining information and perspective.
You add nothing by attacking the speaker or otherwise putting him or her down.
Be candid, open, and honest in your response.
Assert your opinions respectfully.
Treat the other person as he or she would want to be treated.
--
Does that last point sound familiar?
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12

Love

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10

My understanding of this verse is that God loves us, even though we fall short many times of loving God in return by loving and respecting all that God created.

I had this point driven home to me in a most vivid way today. I went to see a friend I’ve know since I was six years old yesterday and we talked until 4 a.m. about the difficult time he is going through and he seemed to be feeling better after our talk.

On my bus ride home today, however, one of the 50 or so people on the bus was full of bluster and fury about how a policewoman had seized his car and fined him a few hundred dollars for being disrespectful to her. He went on and on swearing, vowing to rape her as punishment for her doing what presumably was her job and dismissing the court summons as a trivial detail. Needless to say, the families with young children on the bus were speechless.

This very angry young man kept escalating his offensive rhetoric and berated other passengers for not getting off the bus faster. I bit my tongue instead of rebuking him and wondered about this bizarre episode during my walk home.

“A scoundrel plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.” Proverbs 16:27

Well, this verse certainly would seem to apply in describing this incident. But I couldn’t help but wonder what had filled this 20-something “adult” with so much venom and hatred (and a desire to so publicly make a fool and nuisance of himself).

Then I felt pity for him. I mean, how many friends can someone with this kind of outlook be able to turn to? The friend I had just spent 22 hours with in conversation had confided how isolated and lonely he’d felt during the depths of his troubles. This reminded me of one of Fr. Joe’s sermons in July, when he quoted Pope Benedict XVI defining humanity’s most wretched state as loneliness – that feeling of abandonment and of being unworthy of love.

The young man on the bus certainly didn’t make me feel like getting up and hugging him, to be perfectly frank, but maybe that’s just what he really needed. I have no doubt he will be appearing in court soon and if he makes good on his boast of telling the judge he’ll get his revenge on the policewoman by stalking her and raping her, I have a pretty good idea where he’ll be spending the next few years of his life: in a federal prison where you and I will be paying $125,000 every year for him to be fed, clothed, guarded and – perhaps – rehabilitated.

It’s interesting that earlier this decade Canada’s federal penitentiary system was headed by a revolutionary, and of course controversial, reformer from Denmark named Ole Ingstrup.

Ingstrup reduced the likelihood of Canadian inmates returning to a life of crime to 1 in 4 from 1 in 2 on the premise that men are in jail because they lack respect for people and society in general. (This seems to fit the description of my fellow passenger on the bus.) Ingstrup also started from the idea that women are in prison because of low self-esteem, or lack of respect for themselves.

The chaplain’s office in one prison for women in Ontario reportedly organized a day of manicures and pedicures a few years ago, prompting Toronto’s chief of police at the time, Julian Fantino, to make the following argument to reporters:

“As a society, how can we possibly convince victims and their families that we take their plight seriously when those who have committed truly wicked crimes are given rewards beyond the reach of many Canadians?"

Fantino had a point, but it skirted the basic issue. The question is whether we as a society are best served by a criminal justice system focused exclusively on retribution and punishment or trying to address the root causes of destructive criminal attitudes and attempting to rehabilitate them.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” Matthew 5:38-42

Loving your family and friend is easier than loving the guy who sat near me on the bus today.

Hope

Hope, as a verb, is often defined as to believe, desire, or trust, which is probably why people using this term sometimes dialogue at cross purposes. Whose desire are we talking about? In whom or what do you trust? What exactly do you believe?

Just like with faith, hope is a form of trust. I reckon most people would agree that it is only human to require proof to sustain this other form of trust. I'd like to offer some proof.

This week I’ve read the story of a man in Eastern Ontario who was a promising athlete in high school but was paralyzed from the neck down in a football accident and the heart-wrenching story of Nova Scotia woman with Treacher Collins syndrome – a rare genetic disorder that causes facial deformities.

In both instances I was struck by the journalists’ accounts of these individuals’ apparent serenity after the tumultuous years of soul search and emotional roller coaster caused by their physical circumstances.

This beautiful young woman and this dynamic father are alive and well in spirit.

They never gave up hope. The accounts of their life stories talk of ebbs and flows in their hope, but through pain, patience, and perseverance they have come to see better days.

In his book “Jesus of Nazareth”, Pope Benedict XVI sheds some very insightful light on the Transfiguration (pages 306-307) when he explains:

“…the great events of Jesus’ life are inwardly connected with the Jewish festival calendar. They are, as it were, liturgical events in which the liturgy, with its remembrance and expectation, becomes reality…Our analysis of the connections between the Transfiguration story and the Feast of Tabernacles illustrates once again the fact that all Jewish feasts contain three dimensions. They originate from celebrations of nature religion and thus tell of Creator and creation; they then become remembrances of God’s actions in history; finally, they go on from there to become feasts of hope, which strain forward to meet the Lord who is coming, the Lord in whom God’s saving action in history is fulfilled, thereby reconciling the whole of creation.”

Perhaps skeptics and cynics might read this analysis and dismiss it as the scribbling of an old man blinded by anachronistic thinking. (Anachronism meaning a thing or person that is incongruous, or out of step with, the present time) I write this because just the other day I saw a bumper sticker on a car with the symbols of the world’s three great monotheistic religions with the caption underneath it stating: “Free Your Mind”.

I suppose that if you are convinced that despite the scientifically and statistically near-impossible odds of complex life existing on this planet that we are here by some cosmic fluke, then it would make sense to “free your mind” to believe pretty much anything that suits you. Our omnipotent and loving God gives us the freedom to choose between His desires or our desires. He does not impose Himself on us. He invites us.

Isn’t it interesting that the first of the three temptations Jesus had to face when he began his ministry was to fast in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights at the end of which the devil challenged him to use his omnipotence to convert stones to loaves so he could feed himself. Jesus refused, but as we were reminded on the first Sunday in August, he did multiply the loaves for the masses that gathered to listen to his Word.

I’d like to repeat a quotation I shared in last week's blog on Faith:

“Jesus did not come to make life easy, but to make men great”

I am inspired by the patience and perseverance of the two physically afflicted people I read about this week. They may have come very close to losing hope many times, but they always clung to it.

For what it is worth, when the mother of my children went to her native Argentina for a short-term trip and, once there, informed me that she no longer loved me, desired a divorce and that she and our sons would remain in Argentina, I entered a period of darkness.

I read the Book of Job over, and over, and over again. I read the Psalms. I read the New Testament, the Old Testament, books by C.S. Lewis and others on their spiritual quests to feed my hope of better days. At first there were days where I could not even take things one day at a time, it was one hour at a time.

What got me through this were Faith, Family, and Friends. Thank God for those blessings.

I still have a long row to hoe, but four years after this tragedy, I am still able to fly down to Argentina six times a year to see my 4-1/2 year old and 7-1/2 year old.

In that time, I had almost everything that was dear to me stripped away except my hope that God would not forsake me. And in that time my faith grew stronger and stronger to the point where God’s desire for what I am to do with the gifts He has bestowed upon me have become revealed, and they surpass my wildest hopes.

Happy Dia del Nino (Argentinian Children’s Day)

Faith

Faith, this lifelong theme for believers in God is rooted in a word with origins in Latin whose synonym is trust.

Many of us have grown wary in a world that, in many ways, is misleading and so adult trust is much more difficult for anyone to earn than the trust of an innocent child.

Yet, we profess belief in God who frames our relationship with Him, through his Son, as how children ought to relate to their father: by following his good example.

And here is where the obstacle lies: in order to trust, it is only human to require proof.

Humans rely on their five senses – smell, sight, hearing, touch, and taste – to convince ourselves of what is real, a bit like we did six centuries ago when relying on our sight we decided the western horizon of the Atlantic was the outer edge of the flat world from which the ocean cascaded into oblivion. (I am a fan of Owen Barfield' s "Saving the Appearances" - great read.)

But as Fr. Joe summed it up so simply and eloquently at Canadian Press photographer Tom Hanson’s funeral in March, the whole point of human life in this world is to tune our five human senses to develop our spiritual sense.

So, how exactly does one go about developing this sixth sense, the spiritual sense?

I’ve puzzled about this quite a bit and I’ve come up with a starting point that, so far, seems to me to be sound.

I start from the premise that things happen for a reason, that there are no flukes or accidents.

I am not advocating “Intelligent Design” as is espoused so enthusiastically by some evangelical Protestants in the United States (but remains a matter of debate among Catholics).

I personally believe we were created by an omnipotent and loving God who grants us and respects our freedom to choose to either trust in His concept of a good life or our own concept of a good life.

Trusting in God means setting aside our priorities to make place for His.

That is truly a leap of Faith!

But an omnipotent and loving God would not allow us to suffer in vain.

The problem of pain is the subject of another blog, but let me share an insightful quotation I read not so long ago to put human suffering in perspective:

“Jesus did not come to make life easy, but to make men great”

Sounds a lot like Mark 8:34, which says:

“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’.”

Doing exactly that is what I call an act of Faith.

Four Cardinal virtues

Prudence, Justice, Restraint, and Courage.
These are known as the Cardinal virtues.
"Cardinal" is derived from Latin "cardo" which means 'hinge' because moral life hinges on our exercise of prudence, justice, restraint, and courage.
When I first joined Blessed Sacrament I was struck at how Fr. Joe would end each Mass by wishing us a good week and urging us to love and respect one another.
Implicit in that petition would be the call to respect ourselves also, I presume, and doing so would to my mind mean doing our best to live our lives with these four Cardinal virtues in mind, and in practice.
The remaining three virtues of the seven we are taught are Faith, Hope, and Love or Charity.
I had been wondering how I would bridge the blogs on the four Cardinal virtues to the blogs on the three Theological virtues I just cited.
The past few weeks have been hectic ones for me, so I've been quite tired at the end of most days so this evening I decided to take a long walk in no particular direction.
This walk lead me to the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park.
During its construction I remembered thinking how some of the sculptures were not to my aesthetic tastes and how unlikely I would be to set foot in that park to relax and reflect so I was surprised to find myself meandering to this patch of green space in a semi-residential, semi-industrial zone.
I thought of how my step-mother was diagnosed with breast cancer about a year ago now and how her indomnitable spirit -- and patience waiting nearly eight months for radiation treatment -- has seen her to the successful treatment of her cancer.
So, I figure, why not give the park a chance? I just won't look at the sculptures I don't like.
I'm glad I did give the park a chance and when my step-mother and father come to visit this fall I will suggest we walk through it.
There are stations throughout the with pithy comments and advice from cancer survivors.
If I were to try to sum up the messages in a handful of words, they would be these: rest on your faith, never lose hope, make every moment count (love and charity would be the means to doing that if you ask me).
This was a walk well worth taking.

Courage

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Courage is the ability to do something in spite of fearing the commission of that action. But it is also the ability to show strength in the face of pain or grief.

I am flattered that Blessed Sacrament parish entrusts me with this blog, and I do the best I can to deliver a succinct and, hopefully, thought-provoking reflection on my spiritual quest for God in the hope that it’s of use to whoever reads this blog (constructive feedback is welcome).

But I find it takes courage for me to do this. As I have often stated, I am not a Biblical scholar or a theologian, so I try not to delve into issues more deeply than I feel competent to comment on. I try to do my homework so this way I am not starting from a false premise and misleading those who read this blog. This is a form of teaching and the Bible says that those who teach will be held to a higher standard – and that strikes the fear of God in me in case I have ever made a mistake. I can only pray the Holy Spirit is inspiring me when I write because, as we all know, human beings make mistakes all the time.

I also experience this fear and call to courage when speaking with people who are not firmly rooted in any faith or with Jews or Muslims, because like most Catholics I am far from being an authority on Christian dogma. All I can do is answer as honestly and completely as I feel competent to do.

I found Fr. Joe’s anecdote about the wedding preparation in Bathurst, New Brunswick, last week really interesting. I go to the earliest Mass in the morning so maybe he didn’t tell this story at the other Masses so I’ll try to sum it up as accurately as possible.

A group of people were sitting around Fr. Joe and chatting about all sorts of things. One person seated next to him started asking some questions about Christianity. Then, a while later, that person placed himself at the other end of the group and publicly challenged the relevance of Christianity in our day and Church dogma. Fr. Joe said his first response was to ask that person what he understood “dogma” to be and that person had no definition.

I found this story focused my mind on how to write this week’s blog.

First, it must not have been very pleasant to be speaking individually with someone about something very dear to him, faith, only to then be publicly challenged as believing in some farcical ritual from the past. That could, in a number of people, provoke anger (so kudos to Fr. Joe for his restraint). An angry response is not the example Jesus Christ teaches us when the Sadducees put him to the test, when Pontius Pilate gives him up to the mob’s will, and other examples in Scripture. As believers and followers of Christ, we are called on to be ambassadors to not only other Christians but non-believers.

The history of our own country, let alone those of hundreds of others around the world, is replete with instances of forced conversions to the dominant religion from pre-history to modern times. So even though Roman Catholics are the largest group of any holders of faith in Canada, my interpretation of the New Testament is that Jesus Christ had “followers”. No one was forced to believe in him. He simply led by example and answered questions. So, that’s what I try to do.

For anyone who is curious, about 42 percent of Canadians are Roman Catholic, according to the 2001 Census, compared with 23 percent being Protestant, people with no faith 16 percent and 12 percent believe in some unspecified faith, 4 percent being other Christians, 2 percent Muslim.

After my God, my health, my spouse, and our families, I hold my friends dear to me and a true source of wealth (love, kinship, laughter, support). Some of the people I count as friends are Jewish, Muslim, sceptics and non-believers. I respect their views as I expect them to respect my faith. But I make no apologies for what I believe and I am always happy to engage in an exchange of ideas. And I think that, ultimately, this may be the virtue of courage God expects of us in the daily exercise of our faith.

For example, I have one friend who goes to Mass every once in a while. His girlfriend will only marry him if he professes a belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. So he talked to me about it. I told him that some people think of Jesus Christ as a great moral teacher, a towering historical figure of a human being that touches the lives of billions over the past two millennia. I disagree with that view. I don’t think the Christian faith is founded on a human being who claimed to be the “Son of Man” and who did not deny assertions like Peter’s that identified him as the son of the living God. So if Jesus Christ were a great moral teacher and not the Son of God, then he would have been knowingly committing blasphemy. His message was so radical, and the earthly consequences paid for this radical message was so brutally, violently extreme – and for the sake of inspiring people to simply follow his example – I just cannot accept that Jesus Christ was a mere mortal like you and me. My friend has since moved cities with his girlfriend and, to my knowledge; he and she are not married in the Church. He never revisited this question with me, but we remain on very good terms and I suspect he knows I would be open to further dialogue should he wish to explore this question again.

I am rock solid absolutely sure about the reply I gave to this friend.

Another friend, who needs incontrovertible evidence before he can accept that Jesus Christ is the Son of God simply asks me to prove Jesus was resurrected. He is a good friend and we have had this debate, off and on, over the course of close to two decades now. I have, at times, thought of asking him whether he would believe if I could give him irrefutable proof … but I suspect his answer would be “No”. Besides, he and I both know that no one on earth can provide irrefutable proof. That’s why it’s called faith. We place our trust in God. Not everyone can be a doubting Thomas with the opportunity to stick his fingers in the wounds. So my debate, sometimes at his initiating and sometimes at mine, continues with this other friend. But since this friend is an honest person who uses clear and straight logic (unlike, I suspect, Fr. Joe’s interlocutor last week in New Brunswick) I am not afraid to answer “I don’t know, but I’ll find out and get back to you” or “God only knows” to his questions. I actually welcome these chats with him because it pushes me to delve deeper in my human understanding of the Divine.

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

NOTE: I have a friend whose wife runs a charity called “Canadian Friends of Pearl Children” that offers aid orphaned and disadvantaged Ugandan children known as the Pearl Children Care Centre in Jinja, Uganda. He said he would be grateful if I were to mention her charity, and contact details, should anyone be interested in donating. Her contact details are:
Dvora Rotenberg
www.pearchildren.ca
(613) 282 1060
drotenberg@pearlchildren.ca

Restraint

“A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered” Proverbs 17:27

Restraint, or temperance, is the third virtue we are called upon to practice. But what is restraint or temperance, really? Is restraint, as one dictionary definition puts it, a curb on our liberty? In a manner of speaking, yes. Perhaps another way of framing restraint – by comparing it with this virtue’s twin “temperance” which is practice self-control, abstention and moderation – would be to focus on a secondary dictionary definition of restraint which delineates this concept as being “a means of restraint to prevent the infliction of harm to self or others”.

In this age of instant communications, it is harder than ever to exercise restraint after taking offence at someone’s words and deeds but failing to practice temperance in the heat of the moment invariably leads to a rapid escalation of whatever conflict has emerged.

It isn’t easy to practice restraint when someone has said or done something hurtful (anger being the outward expression of hurt) but, in hindsight and in my experience, it is much easier to hold my tongue than to repair the damage done by my words or actions at times of high emotion no matter how many times I say I am sorry.

And I think it goes beyond that. I really believe that this life is a (very long) exam where the same lesson is put to us again and again until we learn our Father’s disciplines and then, I strongly suspect, we’re run through them again but at a higher level of complexity or difficulty to improve our spirituality.

Again, I am not a Biblical scholar or student of theology (although, if I had time and money I would consider studying a Masters in Divinity), I cite the following verse from Scripture to support my argument, in the hope I am not quoting it out of its proper context.

“I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.” 1 Chronicles 29:17

Justice

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” Matthew 5:38-41

Justice is another of the cardinal virtues we are called upon to follow in our spiritual maturation. I have a few friends who are lawyers, some of whom are practicing Catholics and others who are agnostics (simply put: who knows if there really is a God – the people who lobbied successfully for the “probably is no God” ad campaign on our city buses.).

But I thought I would rely on my 20 years training as a journalist instead and the first rule in quality reporting is to get as close as possible to the primary source for the exact wording from the authority on the matter in question. So, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, is that primary source in my estimation.

I have often puzzled about the “turn the other cheek” view of justice and came upon a Catholic publication’s explanation which I found very insightful:

“When the court translators working in the hire of King James chose to translate antistenai as "Resist not evil," they were doing something more than rendering Greek into English. They were translating nonviolent resistance into docility. The Greek word means more than simply to "stand against" or "resist." It means to resist violently, to revolt or rebel, to engage in an insurrection. Jesus did not tell his oppressed hearers not to resist evil. His entire ministry is at odds with such a preposterous idea. He is, rather, warning against responding to evil in kind by letting the oppressor set the terms of our opposition.”

When I read this, I felt vindicated for my instructions to my sons. When they have asked me how to deal with bullies in school, I tell them to stand their ground, but never to attack. I tell them that they have a duty, an obligation, to defend themselves but that they should not be the aggressors.

Basically, there seems to be three ways of responding to evil. We can choose to meet force with equal force; be completely passive and submissive; or be militantly non-violent. This is what Jesus Christ appears to be advocating, if the publication and I are correct in our interpretations (again, I am by no stretch of the imagination a Biblical scholar, student of theology or any kind of religious authority – just a blogger for Blessed Sacrament).

There are verses in both Old and New Testament Scripture that frame God’s expectations of us for being just. They are the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ Beatitudes as articulated during the Sermon on the Mount.

There is another figure that often comes to mind when I think of someone who advocates militant non-violent resistance: India’s Mahatma Gandhi.

Ghandi, a Hindu, professed to admire Jesus and often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount. He reportedly explained to a missionary why he had discarded conversion to Christianity in these words: “Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

As a young lawyer in South Africa Ghandi had studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and historians tell us he was seriously exploring becoming a Christian. But when he decided to attend a church service a white South African barred his entry on the grounds of his race.

I find this story tragic because, as we know from John 14:6 (“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”), Gandhi’s decision in reaction to a racist and poor ambassador of the Christian faith has serious consequences.

Other references I consulted in preparing this blog include Exodus chapter 23:1-12 Laws of Justice and Mercy (I will let you read them at your discretion) but what strikes me about these verses is Mercy is put on an equal footing as Justice.

I pray that Jesus Christ, the Father, and Holy Spirit have mercy on Gandhi’s soul.

Prudence

Prudence is the often the first virtue taught in Catechism. Some call prudence the “mother of all virtues”.

I imagine that prudence occupies such a pivotal place in the practice of the Christian faith because the dictionary defines the noun as: “acting with or showing care and thought for the future”. In other words, the act of being prudent is one where we examine the foundation of our intentions before speaking or acting.

A logic exercise students of philosophy often engage in while analyzing arguments is to hone in on the premise, or founding assumptions, of that argument to determine whether the course of action being advocated is well founded.

For a litmus test of whether our planned course of action is set on a solid foundation, www.catholiceducation.org points its readers to the following citation from St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” Philippians 4:8

On Tuesday, the eve of the summit of leaders from the Group of Eight most industrialized rich nations of the world northeast of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI published a 144-page encyclical, the highest form of papal writing, entitled Caritas in Veritate – Latin for “charity in truth.”
In it, he addressed everything from globalization and mandatory birth control to development aid and the environment. He also called for a new business order governed by ethics and the common good, warning that the blind pursuit of profit has “wreaked havoc” on the world economy.
Click on this link for an unofficial synopsis of the encyclical: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0953.htm

My reading of history from the time since humans have kept written records (I am a particular fan of Ancient Greek and Roman history) has led me to believe that market economics appears to be this world’s natural order for doing business.

Market economics at one end of the spectrum can be something as simple as a network of bartering agreements – you grow wheat and in exchange for your excess grains I will build you a granary – to “unbridled capitalism”. Capitalism is defined as an economic system in which a country’s trade and industry are geared toward extracting maximum profitability at every stage of the production process.

Our country’s economy and those of the other G8 countries – the United States, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Russia – is probably closer to former end of the spectrum of market economies than the latter and, as far as the Pope is concerned, that is where we got ourselves into this mess that’s become the first global economic contraction since the Second World War.

The Pope wrote that while the globalized economy has redistributed wealth, which has “lifted billions of people out of misery”, he also warned that reckless growth in recent years has caused environmental degradation, a loss of trust in world markets, and mass migration.

The Pope calls for the reform of the United Nations and international financial institutions to give poor countries a greater voice on the global stage, adding his voice to those of the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and China for an overhaul of UN institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group – two bodies revered in the developed world but loathed in developing countries for often forcing poorly thought-out policies on their populations.

Let’s pray the leaders of the G8 are prudent in their deliberations this week and that we be prudent in our actions and words.

“But deliver us from evil” Luke 11:4

Pope Benedict XVI rounds out his analysis of the Our Father by pointing out that this final petition of the prayer Jesus taught his Disciples picks up where the previous one left off and gives it a positive twist.

He explains: “In the next-to-last petition the ‘not’ set the dominant note (do not give the Evil One more room to manoeuvre than we can bear). In the last petition we come before the Father with the hope that is at the centre of our faith: ‘Rescue, redeem, free us!’ In the final analysis, it is a plea for redemption.”

Amen

Correction to the headline of the previous blog, it should be noted as Luke 11:4 and not Luke 11:5, apologies.
(Note to readers: I thought of next blogging about the seven virtues -- interested?)

“And lead us not into temptation” - Luke 11:5

This verse is probably the one that puzzles people the most, or at least the Christians with whom I have spoken about the Our Father, and for a long time I counted myself among them. When facing temptation, thanks to some notes in Gideon’s Bibles at hotels which I’ve noted in the front cover of my Bible, I’ve flipped the pages forward to the book of St. James.

“Let no one say when he is tempted: ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one” – James 1:13

In his book, “Jesus of Nazareth”, Pope Benedict XVI points to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4, verse 1, which states: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil”, so the Pope’s ensuing analysis is the following:

“Temptation comes from the devil, but part of Jesus’ messianic task is to withstand the great temptations that have led man away from God and continue to do so. As we have seen, Jesus must suffer through these temptations to the point of dying on the Cross, which is how he opens the way of redemption for us,” the Pope writes.

Again, I am not a Biblical scholar or a theologian but my best layman’s interpretation of this verse then is something like God tolerating or allowing us to be tempted as a means to test our hearts, our deepest and truest intentions. For me, it calls to mind the parable of the sower, with seeds (our heart-felt intentions?) falling on sun-baked rocks, shallow soil, and rich, moist deep fertile soil (a soul eager to please God?).

The Pope’s book draws on the Book of Job to help interpret this verse and he wraps up that strand of his logic in the following way:

“When we pray it, we are saying to God: ‘I know that I need trials so that my nature can be purified. When you decide to send me these trials, when you give evil some room to manoeuvre, as you did with Job, then please remember that my strength goes only so far. Don’t overestimate my capacity. Don’t set too wide the boundaries within which I may be tempted, and be close to me with your protecting hand when it becomes too much for me.”

Once I read that paragraph by the Pope, then I finally felt I understood this sixth petition in the Our Father.

Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

“From this man's descendants God, according to his promise,has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentanceto all the people of Israel” Act 13:23-24

This is a day that is marked by celebrations not only in Québec, but all over the world, be it in the Philippines or the country that counts among its citizens the single-biggest Catholic community anywhere on the globe: Brazil.

Whether you call it La Saint-Jean-Baptiste, San Juan Bautista, or Sao Joao, the message from Jesus’ maternal cousin remains the same: repentance.

John, like Jesus, preached at a time of political, social, and religious conflict. And the celebration of his nativity heralds his proclaiming of the coming of the Light during dark times in this world.

Since repentance is the precursor to forgiveness, it seems only fitting that the maternal cousin of God’s only son play this role.

As I shared in my previous blog, it took a simple statement of apology to bring me back into the Catholic church. Again I must emphasize the surprise I felt at the degree to which I experienced a huge relief and comfort from those three words, “I am sorry”, and I was happy to forgive and put old grievances behind me.

As I have also shared in earlier blogs, mine has been a particularly bellicose divorce and I have struggled in trying to figure out how to reconcile with the mother of my sons. I am prepared to offer forgiveness and reconciliation but my offers have been rebuffed.

I have wracked my brains trying to figure out ways to ease the tension and animosity, if for nothing else for the sake our sons. I frequently turn to Romans 12:14-20 for guidance.

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head’.” Romans 12:14-20

"And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us" Luke 11:4

I particularly appreciate the way Pope Benedict XVI opens his analysis of this petition in the Our Father in his book “Jesus of Nazareth”.

“Every instance of trespass among men involves some kind of injury to truth and to love and is thus opposed to God, who is truth and love. How to overcome guilt is a central question for every human life; the history of religions revolves around this question. Guilt calls forth retaliation. The result is a chain of trespasses in which the evil of guilt grows ceaselessly and becomes more and more inescapable. With this petition, the Lord is telling us that guilt can be overcome only by forgiveness, not by retaliation. God is a God who forgives, because he loves his creatures; but forgiveness can only penetrate and become effective in one who is himself forgiving,” writes the Pope.

As the Pope states, forgiveness is a theme that pervades the entire Gospel. He points to the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount; that God stepped out of his divinity to come toward us and to reconcile us; before giving us the Eucharist, Jesus knelt before his disciples and washed their dirty feet thereby cleansing them with his humble love. There is the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23-35) to underscore how whatever we have to forgive one another is trivial in comparison with the goodness of God.

“I am sorry,” are probably among the hardest three words for most of us to utter. The healing power of those three words, however, cannot be underestimated.

The day I was married the priest who officiated over the ceremony took my confession. I explained to him that I had stopped going to Mass five years earlier following work I did on a three-month investigative report on accusations a priest in Western Canada had allegedly sexually abused choir boys and that the archdiocese in that region chose to transfer him to other rural parishes each time these allegations surfaced. Although I called that archdiocese five times during those three months to get their comment, they did not return my messages. The story ran, and the next day the archbishop and a priest who worked as his assistant asserted that I had never called. They spoke with my supervisor’s boss and my freelance contract was cancelled the following week. Another outlet immediately hired the week afterwards, but French-Canadian communities out west being relatively devout I found myself shunned by half of the community and cheered as a hero by the other half. But what really hurt was a few months later when my grandmother died and her funeral service was officiated by the priest who claimed I had never called the archdiocese. Upon recognizing my family members, he insisted that my grandmother’s casket remain at the back of the church, despite my grandmother being a devout Catholic all her life.

As a consequence of this, my faith in the Catholic Church as an institution of mercy and reconciliation was shaken to its core and I opted to boycott the institution all the while remaining firm in my belief in God. After telling this story to the priest who was about to bless my marriage, he apologized to me in the name of the Catholic Church, which surprised me at the degree to which it came as a relief, and I committed to return to Mass and raise our future children in the Catholic faith.

Thank God he said “sorry” because that brought me back into the fold. The Catholic Church is made up of people who are as flawed and imperfect as you and me. But having boycotted the church for five years I think I became more flawed, imperfect and bore a growing amount of guilt as a result of that. Someone once described membership in a parish as being one of the white hot coals of a fire. If you pull that coal away it cools and loses its luminescence, but you just have to push it back into the fire and glows again.

"Give us this day our daily bread" (Luke 11:3)

Pope Benedict XVI calls this the “most human” of all the petitions we find in the Our Father, and his analysis of these seven words opens up a broad spectrum of requests, responsibilities and degrees of engagement in one’s spiritual life.

First, while Jesus teaches his disciples to pay homage to God in the opening petitions of prayer, He recognizes humanity’s physical needs in this physical world. The Pope cites Matthew 6:25 “Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat” he explains that this verse invites us to turn our care (and our worries) over to God.

Second, the Pope reminds us that there can be no bread, or wheat, without rain, or water, nor without a sun to shine on it so the wheat can grow. Pride (one of the seven cardinal sins) can lead us to believe we control the ability to produce our sustenance. He goes on to state that: “Such pride makes man violent and cold. It ends up destroying the earth. It cannot be otherwise, because it is contrary to the truth that we human beings are oriented toward self-transcendence and that we become great and free and truly ourselves only when we open up to God.”

Third, like the first word of the first verse of the Our Father, in this verse we do not ask for “my” daily bread but for everyone’s. The Pope’s interpretation is that no one may think selfishly in this or any of the other petitions. We are praying for our sustenance as well as the rest of humanity’s – family, friends and foes alike. “Those who have an abundance of bread are called to share,” the Pope states, then adds: “By expressing this petition in the first person plural, the Lord is telling us: ‘Give them something to eat yourselves’.” (Mark 6:37)

Fourth, this verse presupposes poverty, that some people have renounced the world and its riches for the sake of faith and that they ask for nothing beyond what they need to live. Although the Pope does not state it explicitly, my interpretation between the lines of what he says in his book “Jesus of Nazareth” at the middle of page 152 is that embedded in this verse is a petition for all those whose vocation is of a religious calling. Tell me if you think my interpretation is overblown, because it is based on this sentence by the Pope: “There must always be people in the Church who leave everything in order to follow the Lord, people who depend radically on God, on his bounty by which we are fed – people, then, who in this way present a sign of faith that shakes us out of our heedlessness and the weakness of our faith.”

Just imagine if people like Father Joe, who could arguably earn a lot more money as a motivational speaker, did not “depend radically on God” to help us grasp Scripture.

Fifth, the Pope argues that this verse’s petition for bread for just today evokes Israel’s 40 years in the Sinai. Each Israelite was only allowed to gather as much manna as was needed for that day and only on the sixth day was it allowed to gather enough to last two days, so as to keep the Sabbath.

Sixth, this bread we ask for is God’s sustenance, as Father Joe has mentioned in past sermons at the feast of Corpus Christi. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3)

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” (Luke 11:2)

Sometimes, when I recite this verse while I am going through a rough patch in life, I can’t help but think to myself that God’s will for what I need to be living in life at that particular moment doesn’t seem to be very enjoyable.

Typically, I’ll wrack my brains trying to remember where I read a Bible passage that reminds us to welcome trying times as God testing our hearts and effectively raising the bar on our spirituality and faith. Then, I’ll flip to my notes either on the front or back cover of my Bible and there it is: James 1:2-5

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:2-5)

Pope Benedict XVI, in his book “Jesus of Nazareth”, opens his analysis of Luke 11:2 by stating the following: “Two things are immediately clear from the words of this petition: God has a will with and for us and it must become the measure of our willing and being; and the essence of ‘heaven’ is that it is where God’s will is unswervingly done.”

Although it seems obvious after reading this that Heaven is where God’s will is sovereign in the most absolute and eternal sense but, for some reason, until reading the Pope’s book, I would not have articulated it this way if asked what I imagine Heaven to be.

The Pope adds this statement: “Earth becomes ‘heaven’ when and insofar as God’s will is done there; and it is merely ‘earth,’ the opposite of heaven, when and insofar as it withdraws from the will of God.”

Having read this adds a further level of my understanding of God’s will and plan for the life I’ve been given. There are circumstances I have been handed that, quite frankly, I am not thrilled about. But, as I’ve often said to family and friends, life isn’t so much a question of the cards we’re dealt but how we play them. The Bible, or users’ manual on how to live life according to God’s will, is replete with guidance on how to live life properly. (I particularly like reading Proverbs.)

Of course, life is full of considerations that make it a mine field of grey zones and the Pope has a very helpful comment on this point in his analysis of Luke 11:2.

“But what is ‘God’s will’? How do we recognize it? How can we do it? The Holy Scriptures work on the premise that man has knowledge of God’s will in his inmost heart, that anchored deeply within us there is a participation in God’s knowing, which we call conscience.”

The Pope goes on for two pages exploring this line of reasoning and then comes to the point that Jesus’ whole existence is summed up in the words “Yes, I have come to do thy will” and that the ‘gravitational pull’ of our own will constantly draw us away from God’s will but that Jesus accepts us, draws us to Himself, into Himself, and in communion with Him we learn God’s will.

So, concludes the Pope, what we are praying for in the third petition of the Our Father is to come closer to Him so that God’s will conquers the downward pull of our selfishness.

"Thy Kingdom come" Luke 11:2

Again, in his book “Jesus of Nazareth”, Pope Benedict XVI’s verse-by-verse analysis of the Our Father goes straight to the premise of each statement. In this verse, he explains that we are acknowledging the primacy of God and that where God is absent, nothing can be good. Like a true scholar, he cites Matthew 6:33 to back his analysis (“Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well”).

But what the Pope states next speaks to the core of one of the main objections levelled by atheists, agnostics, and other degrees of doubters against Christianity. How can a loving and omnipotent God allow such injustice and suffering in the world?

“This is not a promise that we will enter the Land of Plenty on condition that we are devout or that we are somehow attracted to the Kingdom of God. This is not an automatic formula for a well-functioning world, not a utopian vision of a classless society in which everything works out well of its own accord, simply because there is no private property. Jesus does not give us such simple recipes.

“What he does do, though…is to establish an absolutely decisive priority. For ‘Kingdom of God’ means ‘dominion of God,’ and this means that His will is accepted as the true criterion.”

I recall reading once, in one of C.S. Lewis’ many publications, an explanation of the paradox of free will and God’s omnipotence and dominion. God granted humankind the freedom to choose to follow either our own will or His will. Lewis then argues that since we are all tainted by original sin, even if we choose to submit to God’s will, the suffering and injustice of this world is a consequence we bring on ourselves through selfishness and sin.

I often find the representation of God as Father a useful guide in considering issues such as objections to Christianity based on the great deal of suffering in this world. I watch my sons on play structures at the park and want to encourage them to play, exercise and conquer fears of heights so I let them run the risk of falling of the play structures. When they sometimes do fall, then I gather them up in my arms and take care of them. At this time, this is my best attempt at reconciling the paradox of free will and God’s omnipotence and dominion. I am not a Biblical scholar or theologian but from the little I understand of God’s Word, what matters is the intentions in our hearts. So, if in exercising our free will we are not making the dominion of God our absolute decisive priority, that’s when we get ourselves and others in trouble.

The Pope also goes on to draw a parallel between the order of priorities that Jesus instructs us to invoke in the Our Father and the Old Testament account of Solomon’s first prayer on rising to the throne. In a dream, God gives Solomon the opportunity to make one request that the Lord promises to grant. Here is what Solomon asks for in 1 Kings 3:9: “Give thy servant therefore a listening heart to govern thy people, that I may discern between good and evil”

The Pope concludes by stating: “To pray for the Kingdom of God is to say to Jesus: Let us be yours, Lord! Pervade us, live in us; gather scattered humanity in your body, so that in you everything may be subordinated to the Father, in order that (1 Corinthians 15:28) ‘God may be all in all’.”

"Hallowed be thy Name." Luke 11:2

This second verse of Luke, chapter 11, is the first petition Jesus Christ teaches the Disciples to make when praying to the Father. Pope Benedict XVI draws a link between this first petition of the Our Father and the second of the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not speak the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
The Pope sets this in historical context, bringing us back to the voice of God calling to Moses from the burning bush, in a polytheistic era. When Moses asks God His name, God's reply is both a refusal and a pledge, explains the Pope. God replies: "I am who I am."
The Pope writes the following in his book: "This pledge is a name and a non-name at one and the same time. The Israelites were therefore perfectly right in refusing to utter this self-designation of God, expressed in the word YHWH, so as to avoid degrading it to the level of names of pagan deities." Then he goes on to state that recent translations of the Bible are wrong to write out this name "as if it were just any old name".
And then the Pope goes further back, to Adam, and makes what struck me as a particularly insightful observation. Adam named the animals of Eden and, by doing so, he names their essential natures and fits thim into his human world. Assigning names allows us to address and invoke one another. By replying "I am who I am" to Moses, God establishes a relationship between Himself and us and puts Himself within reach of our invocations and in a sense hands himself over to the human world.
In other words, this is a great privilege that has been accorded to us and should not be abused. Yet, I'm sure many of us hear the word "God" often being used in expressions of surprise, or "Jesus" as part of an expletive.
I have the misfortune of having the first syllable of my given name corresponding to an expletive in Argentine jargon. My ex-spouse regularly addresses me using only the first syllable of my given name, knowing full well I know the other, less-than-flaterring meaning, of my abbreviated name. This habit has proven particularly offensive to me, but I exercise restraint not to take the bait, but it does make it more difficult for me to listen attentively to her when she moves on to matters of more importance, like our childrens' welfare. Imagine someone using your name as an expletive on a regular basis, and then turning around, uttering your name to you before asking you to do something for them.
This is when it dawned on me at a much deeper level that if we indulge in speaking the name of the Lord our God in vain, it must undoubtedly alienate Our Father and make it harder to hear our supplications.
I found the Pope's summation of this verse particularly poignant: "How do I treat God's holy name? Do I stand in reverence before the mystery of the burning bush, before his incomprehensible closeness, even to the point of his presence in the Eucharist, where he truly gives himself entirely into our hands? Do I care that God's holy companionship with us will draw us up into his purity and sanctity, instead of dragging Him down into the filth?"

Our Father who art in Heaven

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
He said to them, "When you pray, say: "Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name," Luke 11:1-2

I say this prayer every day and find the words both comforting and challenging. I recently read the Pope’s analysis of the Our Father and uncovered a whole new set of insights in what are arguably among the best known verses in Scripture. Allow me to share those insights with you.
In his book “Jesus of Nazareth”, Pope Benedict XVI first points out, on page 132, how Luke emphasizes Jesus’ frequent and regular practice of prayer throughout his Gospel. He explains how Luke places the Our Father in the context of Jesus’ praying as a means to include us in His own prayer to the Father, teaching us how to enter into dialogue with the Holy Trinity.

“This also means, however, that the words of the Our Father are signposts to interior prayer, they provide a basic direction for our being, and they aim to configure us to the image of the Son,” writes the Pope. “The meaning of the Our Father goes much further than the mere provision of a prayer text. It aims to form our being, to train us in the inner attitude of Jesus (cf. Phil 2:5)

Philippians 2:5 states: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus”

The Pope’s analysis goes on to state that we must listen as accurately as possible to Jesus’ words as found in Scripture and that we must also bear in mind that the Our Father originates in his own praying – the Son’s dialogue with the Father.

“This means that it reaches down into depths far beyond the words. It embraces the whole compass of man’s being in all ages,” the Pope added.

He also cites German author and poet Reinhold Schneider, who offers an even more arresting insight: “The Our Father begins with a great consolation: we are allowed to say ‘Father’. This one word contains the whole history of redemption. We are allowed to say ‘Father,’ because the Son was our brother and has revealed the Father to us; because, thanks to what Christ has done, we have once more become children of God.”

A Listening Heart

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." Luke 11:1

Pope Benedict XVI’s book on Jesus underscores the frequency and consistency with which Jesus communicates through prayer with the Father.

What follows in the 11th chapter of Luke is Jesus’ iteration of the Our Father. Pope Benedict XVI’s book analyzes the Our Father verse by verse and for anyone who is interested I would be glad to blog on this, taking up the Pope’s analysis and explanations verse by verse. I found it quite insightful, and I’m sure many people would also.

But as a form of preamble to that, I’d like to add an observation of my own. I try to pause after each verse of the Our Father to think about what I’ve just said, and how its meaning applies to what I’m currently living rather than just parroting words by rote. It can lead to some arresting moments at time.

A Protestant friend of mine once invited me to his parish to watch some videos made by a British Anglican priest by the name of Nicky Gumbel in what’s called the Alpha Course. I found many of his observations insightful and one of them pertaining to prayer was put in his typically accessible analogies.

Gumbel asked his viewers to think of prayer as a conversation (I’ve adapted his idea to explain to my sons that crossing yourself is a bit like dialling the telephone to God). He explained that we don’t have monologues and then end the chat when we engage in conversation with each other so we shouldn’t either when we pray. So, since having prayer framed in this way, I’ve reminded myself to pray for – among many things – a listening heart.

Trust

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding – Proverbs 3:5

The dictionary defines faith as “confidence or trust in a person or thing” and as “belief that is not based on proof”. Faith is a hard thing to exercise in such a complex and often contradictory world. We’re only human, and so many of us – myself included – yearn for proof even though we are asked to “not lean on our own understanding” but rather to “trust in the Lord”. I know some people who keep a prayer journal and place a mark next to those prayers that have been answered.

When I think back to some of my more urgent prayers (For example, during my bellicose divorce I had repeatedly requested my ex-spouse’s consent to sell the house we had bought because I was unable to carry the mortgage, and just as I my options were narrowing to a personal bankruptcy filing the judge intervened and dispensed with her consent so I see that as an answer to my prayers!) I have been struck by how my requests have been granted, not on my desired deadline but after my trust in God had been put to the test.

Other times the answer has been “No” or “Not yet” and, with the benefit of hindsight I have come to appreciate how this has really been in my best interests.

Jesus said to his disciples: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit – John 15:1

Forgiveness

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

I couldn’t help but think how difficult forgiving and reconciling can be for me, and probably for many people, after reading a heart-wrenching story in Tuesday’s sports section of the local newspaper. It was a Washington Post feature on Capitals’ enforcer Donald Brashear and his estrangement from his alcoholic father and his mother who put him in a foster home at the age of 7. I’m not a fan of fights in hockey, so I haven’t had a flattering opinion of Brashear. But reading about his very tough childhood I came to a better understanding of him. He has chosen to cope by closing the door on both his parents and given the details in the article it’s not hard to understand his reasons. But both his parents expressed what appeared to be sincere and deep remorse at what happened early in his life so I couldn’t help but think that if he could bring himself to forgive them it would possibly free him of many of his demons.

A few years ago I read a book by Angelo Dundee, boxing coach to Mohamed Ali, Joe Fraser and Sugar Ray Leonard (among others) titled My View From The Corner. In it, Dundee talks about the famous Congo bout “Rumble in the Jungle” between Ali and Fraser, describing Fraser as a bitter, angry man even before his defeat in Africa. What I found inspiring was how years later Fraser had embraced Christianity and staged one of the most remarkable come backs in boxing history, while in his forties no less, and Dundee’s accounting of how peaceful Fraser appeared in comparison with the man he was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Now, every time I see Joe Fraser’s placid, happy face on TV commercials promoting his cooking grill, I can’t help but wonder what was the forgiveness he gave or received that put his demons to rest.

Feast of St. Joseph the Worker

May 1 is celebrated in much of the world, but not in North America, as an international day to commemorate workers’ rights.

Many historians attribute the choice by many countries to mark this date as a public holiday to the Haymarket riot, which took place in Chicago in early May 1886, when police officers were killed by a bomb as they dispersed a demonstration by immigrant workers protesting working conditions. Four anarchists were subsequently sentenced to death and hung.

The first day of May in the Catholic calendar marks the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Pope John Paul II had this to say about Jesus Christ’s foster father: “What emanates from the figure of St. Joseph is faith. Joseph of Nazareth is a just man because he totally lives by faith. He is holy because his faith is truly heroic. Sacred Scripture says little of him. It does not record even one word spoken by Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth. And yet, even without words, he shows the depth of his faith, his greatness.”

When I think about what people have started calling the Great Recession and rising unemployment rates here and elsewhere, I can’t help but think that Canada’s social safety net and attitude of compassion for those less fortunate are not only rooted in the painful lessons of the Great Depression of the 1930s but more deeply anchored in Christian values.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who spent 1850 to 1854 in a Siberian prison, once wrote that a society can be judged by how it treats its prisoners. By extension of that argument, a moral measure of a society would be how the poor and vulnerable are treated.

I don’t mind paying more taxes here at home than I did in some of the other countries I’ve lived in because I know they go to these social safety net programs, drafted by a community that was and continues to be anchored in Christian values.